Professor Yashar Ganjali
Department of Computer Science
University of Toronto
yganjali@cs.toronto.edu
http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~yganjali
Today
• Outline
 What this course is about
• Logistics
 Course structure, assignments, evaluation
 What is expected from you
 What you want to know
• Computer networks & society
• Overview, science of networks
• Brief overview of areas we are going to study
SII 199 - Computer Networks and Society
University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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What is This Course About?
• Undergrad course
• Computer Networks or Society?
• Emphasis on computer networks
• Understanding the impact of computer networks on
our lives
• How to improve this impact?
SII 199 - Computer Networks and Society
University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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Topics Covered (tentative)
 Part I: Introduction to computer networks
 High level, no technical details
 Part II: Science of networks
 How computer networks change our society
 Modeling, analysis
 Part III: Impact of computer networks on
 Communications

Phone, e-mail, …
 Business

Stock market, banking, …
 Entertainment

TV, music, …
 Healthcare

Electronic health records, sensor networks, diagnosis, …
 Social relations

Social activities, friendships, …
 Privacy, spam, …
SII 199 - Computer Networks and Society
University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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Logistics – Prerequisites, Readings
 No prerequisites
 Can be taken by all first year students
 Readings
 Will be posted on course schedule
 Read before class
SII 199 - Computer Networks and Society
University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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Logistics – Textbooks
 No textbook required
 Recommended books (not required to buy)
 “Linked: The New Science of Networks”, Albert-Laszlo
Barabasi, Perseus Publishing, 2002.
 “Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes
Everything”, Don Tapscott, and Anthony D. Williams,
Portfolio, 2006.
 “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big
Difference”, Malcolm Gladwell, Back Bay Books, 2002.
SII 199 - Computer Networks and Society
University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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Logistics – Hours, Web, TA
 Office hours
 Tue. 3-4 PM
 Wed. 3-4 PM
 Or by appointment
 Location: Bahen 5238
 Course web page
 http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~yganjali/courses/sii199/
 Please check regularly for announcements.
SII 199 - Computer Networks and Society
University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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Logistics – Mailing List, Bulletin Board
 Bulletin board
 Post any questions related to the course.
 Check previous posts before asking a question.
 We guarantee to respond within 48 hours.
 Class mailing list
 sii199-announce@cs.toronto.edu
 Based on email address you have on ROSI.
 Send me an e-mail to be added to the list.
 The TA and I will use this list for announcements only.
 Do not send e-mails to this list!
SII 199 - Computer Networks and Society
University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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Logistics – Grading
 Grading
 Assignments: 40%


Three assignments each 10%
Lecture notes 10%
 Participation in class and discussions: 10%
 Final projects: 50%




Proposal: 5% - 1 page, due Oct. 14th
Intermediate report: 10% - 2 pages, due Nov. 4th
Presentation: 10% - Last week of classes
Final report: 25% - 5 pages, due Dec. 2nd
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University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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Logistics - Deadlines
 Assignment deadlines
 One free late submission of 24 hours


Use on assignment of your choice
E-mail TAs before the deadline
 10% deduction for each date late


Up to 20%
Assignment not accepted after two days
SII 199 - Computer Networks and Society
University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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Logistics – Academic Integrity
 Academic Integrity
 All submissions must present original, independent
work.
 We take academic offenses very seriously.
 Your goal is to learn. No one learns by cheating!
 Please read


Handout # 1 (course information sheet)
“Guideline for avoiding plagiarism”
http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~fpitt/documents/plagiarism.html

“Advice about academic offenses”
http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~clarke/acoffences/
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University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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Logistics - Accessibility
 Accessibility Needs
 The University of Toronto is committed to accessibility.
If you require accommodations or have any
accessibility concerns, please visit
http://studentlife.utoronto.ca/accessibility as soon as
possible.
SII 199 - Computer Networks and Society
University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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Quick Survey
 How many people do you know in this room?
 Two
 Three
 Four
 Five
 Six
 Seven
 Eight
 Nine
 Ten
 More than ten
 Hint: you should know at least two! 
SII 199 - Computer Networks and Society
University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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Survey – Cont’d
 Which online social networks do you belong to?
 Facebook
 Messenger (FB)
 Google Plus
 Telegram
 WhatsApp
 Viber
 IMO
 Twitter
 LinkedIn
…
SII 199 - Computer Networks and Society
University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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Survey – Cont’d
 How many friends do you have in your top online
social network?
 Less than 10
 Between 10-50
 Between 50 and 100
 Between 100 and 500
 Between 500 and 1000
 More than 1000?
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University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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Questions?
What else do you want to know
about this course?
SII 199 - Computer Networks and Society
University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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Let’s Begin
• Computer networks and society
• Overview, science of networks
• Life areas that computer networks have changed
• Healthcare
• Business, remote collaboration
• Entertainment, content sharing
• Cloud computing, storage
• Cyber security, privacy
• Computer networks
• An introduction to the mail system
• An introduction to the Internet
SII 199 - Computer Networks and Society
University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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Communications Media
 Communications in the past
 Meeting in person
 Mail
 Phone
 Today
 Phone, chat (text, voice over IP, video)
 E-mail
 Online social networks
 Blogs, YouTube, …
…
SII 199 - Computer Networks and Society
University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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Computer Networks and Communications
 Computer networks make communications
 More convenient

All done while you sit on your couch
 Cheaper

Phone costs decreasing, free voice chat, …
 Faster

Compare mail and e-mail
 Better

New ways of communication, video, e-mail, blogs, …
…
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University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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Not Just Another Medium …
 Computer networks make communication better, but
that’s not all.
 They also impact our social networks
 We have more friends


People who know “us”
And, people who know “of us”
 We produce more content, and share more


Blogs, YouTube, Twitter, …
Broadcasting and multicasting
 And consume more

Not just TV and radio
 Many aspects of our lives impacted
This is what this course is about.
SII 199 - Computer Networks and Society
University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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Science of Networks
 We can model networks as graphs
 Nodes
 People
 Web pages, …
 Edges, or links
 Relationships
 Any sort of connection, communication, …
SII 199 - Computer Networks and Society
University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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Characteristics of Social Networks
 What do social networks look like today?
 Are they completely random?
 Is there a pattern we can find?
 Properties of social networks
 Average number of friends
 Average path length between any two people
 How does information propagate?

News, fashion, …
 Who are the most influential people?

Fastest to distribute info, best target for advertisement
 How can we detect communities?
SII 199 - Computer Networks and Society
University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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Evolution of Social Networks
 How are social networks evolved?
 How does our friendships evolve?
 How to we form communities?
 How do communities evolve?
 How do computer networks change that process?
 How can we change the evolution process?
 Take advantage for marketing, fashion, news, …
 What are core technologies that help today?
 And, what are technologies that we can envision for
the future?
SII 199 - Computer Networks and Society
University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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Let’s Begin
• Computer networks and society
• Overview, science of networks
• Life areas that computer networks have changed
• Healthcare
• Business, remote collaboration
• Entertainment, content sharing
• Cloud computing, storage
• Cyber security, privacy
• Computer networks
• An introduction to the mail system
• An introduction to the Internet
SII 199 - Computer Networks and Society
University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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Impact on Healthcare
 Electronic Health Records
(EHR)
 Global access to your
health information
 Better decisions by your
doctor
 Sensor networks
 Monitoring health
 Homecare for elderly
people
 Increased life expectancy
 Remote diagnosis
 Under-developed regions
SII 199 - Computer Networks and Society
University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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Impact on Business
 Online retail
 Amazon, Netflix, …
 eBay, craigslist, …
 Advertising
 Completely revolutionized
 Google effect
 Financial sector
 Online banking, currency exchange, stocks, …
 E-Commerce
 Global competition
 Outsourcing
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University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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Remote Collaboration
 A lot of people work from home these days
 Long distance collaborations
 Researchers, students/mentors, …
 Tons of tools to make this possible
 Voice/video conferencing and presentations
 Online sharing of documents
 Collaborative writing

Google docs, MS OneNote, …
 Energy savings, impact on environment
 Makes sense financially as well; gas prices going up
SII 199 - Computer Networks and Society
University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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Entertainment
 New ways to distribute content
 Improvement to traditional systems

IPTV, TiVo, AppleTV, …
 New forms of content distribution


On-demand content, more flexibility
YouTube, WebCams, …
 Easier to share, even illegally
 Piracy and its impact on entertainment industry
 Opens room for small players
 You can create content and broadcast in minutes …
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University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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Content Sharing
 File sharing services
 Napster: centralized directory

Legal issues
 Gnutella: decentralized
 KaZaA, BitTorrent, … many to follow
 Peer-to-peer networks
 Skype

Trying to secure communication
 Tons of research on detecting and hiding
SII 199 - Computer Networks and Society
University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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Cloud Computing/Storage
 Desktop model
 You store everything locally
 Run application locally
 Could model
 Data stored on the cloud

Dropbox
 Applications run on virtual machines

Amazon’s EC2
 Convenient, efficient
 Many problems to solve
 Data and VM management, security, …
SII 199 - Computer Networks and Society
University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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Cyber Security
 Viruses and worms
 Hacking: gain illegal or unauthorized access to a file,
computer, or a network
 Why: power, control, fame, …
 Political hacking (Hacktivism)
 Denial-of-service (DoS) attacks
 Identity theft, phishing
 Financial incentives: credit card fraud
 Click fraud, forgery, scams,
SII 199 - Computer Networks and Society
University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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Privacy
 Too easy to reach people
 Spam in e-mail
 Telemarketing
 Global access makes it easy to leak
private information
 Lack of awareness/concern about
privacy
 Will you accept friendship requests
from unknown people?
 More than 50% of people do
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University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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General Approach
 For each area we will roughly follow the same
methodology
 Study impact of computer networks on that area
 Study technical advances/tools that made it possible
 Try to do a deeper analysis and find patterns/causes
 Creative thinking to
 Make predictions on how things will change
 Make things better in the future
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University of Toronto – Fall 2015
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